London born Hughes grew up in Firhouse in Dublin. He began doing stand-up in the late 1980s and became a household name through Sean’s Show which debuted on Channel 4 in 1992.

For several years, he featured s a team captain on the BBC 2 comedy quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also wrote collections of prose and poetry and worked on a number of films.

In an interview with The Irish Times in 2013, he spoke of how he injected more positivity into his later work. “All of my shows have to be uplifting now. That’s my big change . . . I want people to go out feeling better about themselves.

“There’s so much s**t going on in the world, but there’s so much kindness in the world, and I just think I’d rather add to that.”